Sweet Rebirth: The Little Healer

As the highest-ranking official in the village, it was up to Miao Dahai to explain everything to Yang Qinghai.

”Today, Zhao Nuanyue received a piece of paper that was thrown over the wall into her yard. Mr. Zhao, please show it to Mr. Yang.” Miao Dahai began to recount the day’s events, signaling for Zhao Nuanyue to produce the evidence.

Zhao Nuanyue did as she was told, pulling a piece of paper from her pocket.

Yang Qinghai quickly smoothed it out and examined it carefully. ”So someone kidnapped Little Red Carp to threaten Zhao Nuanyue?” he asked.

”Yes. Zhao Nuanyue was worried that if she went alone, she wouldn’t be able to save Little Red Carp and would likely be in danger herself. So, she came to find Aunt Li and me,” Miao Dahai explained. ”We then gathered some of the village’s hunters and went up the mountain together. We never expected the person who wrote the note to be the same one you caught for abducting Little Red Carp and Zhao Xiaohai. What’s more, we had no idea that Li Shan was actually trying to kill Zhao Nuanyue. After firing one shot, he then killed his accomplice, Wang Dadan. Luckily, Zhao Nuanyue reacted quickly and dove to the ground, so the first shot missed her. The second shot hit Wang Dadan. Just as he was about to shoot at Zhao Nuanyue again, our village’s Li Jianjun managed to shoot Li Shan in the arm. Right now, a few of our villagers are pursuing the fleeing Li Shan. They haven’t returned yet!”

Yang Qinghai looked at Zhao Nuanyue in disbelief. ”You actually dodged a shot at close range?” he asked.

Seeing everyone’s eyes on her, Zhao Nuanyue grew nervous. She spoke cautiously, ”I don’t know what came over me. I just knew that if I got hit, I’d be dead for sure, so I just threw myself to the side and rolled on the ground. I could almost feel the bullet fly past my ear. It scared me to death.”

Seeing Zhao Nuanyue’s fear, Li Guihua quickly stepped forward and took her arm. ”Don’t be scared. Good people are rewarded with good fortune,” she said. ”Nuanyue was very lucky. Sir, I hope you can catch Li Shan as soon as possible. It wasn’t just us who saw Li Shan kill someone. Before he died, Wang Dadan also said that Li Shan was the one who killed him. Two other villagers heard it at the same time. They can all testify.”

Yang Qinghai nodded. ”Alright. For today, we’re just gathering information. I’ve taken notes. Tomorrow, we’ll head to the county seat. For now, Miao Dahai, Wu Dazhu, can you take us to see the deceased, Wang Dadan?”

”Of course. I’ll take you to Wang Dadan’s house right now,” Miao Dahai said. After all, it was a murder case and required a police investigation.

Only then were Zhao Nuanyue and Widow Qian permitted to leave.

When they arrived at the Dragon King Temple, Zhao Xiaohai was already asleep. Little Red Carp was still fighting to stay awake, dozing off.

The moment Zhao Nuanyue saw Little Red Carp, she swept her sister into a hug. Even though she had known how things would turn out from the beginning, the moment she held Little Red Carp, the heavy weight on her heart finally lifted.

”Sister, I was so scared.” Little Red Carp clung to her sister, refusing to let go. Although she hadn’t been afraid on the way, seeing the terror in Zhao Xiaohai’s eyes and on his face made her think, ’If I were a normal kid, I’d probably be even more scared than he is.’

”It’s okay, it’s okay. Your sister and brother are here now!” Zhao Nuanyue said, holding Little Red Carp and gently patting her back to soothe her.

Widow Qian saw that her son was safe and already asleep. She walked over, picked him up, and said, ”Thank you, Nuanyue. I’ll bring Xiao Hai over to thank you properly tomorrow. I’m going to take him home now.”

”Xiao Hai has already eaten, so you don’t need to feed him again when you get back,” Old Madam Qian advised. It wasn’t good for children to eat too much at night.

”Thank you. Thank you so much.” Widow Qian thanked them repeatedly before leaving with her son.

Yang Guanghui and Li Qiong had also returned. Seeing that Little Red Carp and Zhao Nuanyang were both back, they could finally relax.

Li Qiong took Little Red Carp from Zhao Nuanyue’s arms and gave her a light pat on the bottom, chiding affectionately, ”Let’s see you run off again! See? There are a lot of bad people out there. If it weren’t for your brother, you would’ve been sold off by traffickers and never found your way home again.”

Little Red Carp felt a little embarrassed. She hugged Li Qiong’s face, gave her a kiss, and said, ”Thank you, Sister Qiong. Little Red Carp knows she was wrong.”

”You little darling, how can you be so lovable!” Li Qiong gave Little Red Carp a big kiss in return, then looked at Zhao Nuanyue. ”Nuanyue, you should go get something to eat. I’ll give Little Red Carp a bath, then you can take her to bed early.”

Zhao Nuanyue listened and nodded. ”I’ll leave her to you, then.”

Zhao Nuanyue and Zhao Nuanyang were both starving. After they ate, Zhao Nuanyue washed up and took the freshly bathed and sweet-smelling Little Red Carp to bed.

Zhao Nuanyang had also had a long, tense day. At this moment, he could finally relax and fell into a deep sleep.

At the crack of dawn, Yang Qinghai, led by Miao Dahai and two other villagers, went to the spot where Li Shan had shot and killed Wang Dadan the day before. He conducted a thorough investigation of the scene. Now, all they could do was wait for Li Jianjun and the others to return and see if they had found Li Shan.

Just as Yang Qinghai was coming down the mountain, Li Jianjun returned with several villagers. They looked completely worn out, and they didn’t have Li Shan with them.

When Miao Dahai saw that Li Shan was not among the group, he knew they hadn’t caught him.

”Mr. Li, did Li Shan get away?” Yang Qinghai asked. ”Which direction did he run?”

Seeing that the police from the public security office were there, Li Jianjun immediately straightened up and replied, ”Mr. Yang, we chased him all the way to the train station. Li Shan ran into the station and climbed directly onto a train that was slowly accelerating. By the time we reached the train, it had already vanished from sight. We reported the situation to the security personnel at the train station, and they’ve already started sending people to the cities along that train’s route.”

Hearing this, Yang Qinghai sighed internally. ’So this major case still isn’t completely solved!’

”You’ve worked hard.” Yang Qinghai shook Li Jianjun’s hand. ”I know you’re all exhausted, but according to regulations, you need to give a statement and tell us about the pursuit.”

Li Jianjun nodded. ”Alright. We’ll cooperate with the investigation.”

After taking statements from the villagers, Yang Qinghai finally left Nianqiao Village.

Li Jianjun and the others each went home to rest. After all, they had been on the move for a full day and night and were exhausted.

A man’s death is like a lamp going out. Despite all the bad things Wang Dadan had done, he was dead now, and with death, all debts are paid. The villagers, led by Miao Dahai, went to Wang Dadan’s home to help arrange his funeral.

Wang Cuihua had hated Zhao Nuanyue before, but now she realized she had hated the wrong person. Her enemies were right beside her—Liu Lanhua’s family. And with her husband dead at Li Shan’s hands, her family was now a widow and orphans. ’How will we ever get by in the future?’